The Shepherd is a healer and caregiver to his flock

One of the many tasks of a Shepherd is to provide for the medical needs of his flock. During the hot season when biting flies are a real problem the Shepherd will take each of his sheep and anoint them with an oil mixture. This mixture is to help ward off the flies that bother the sheep.

The mixture also helps to keep certain bugs from laying their eggs in the ears of the sheep and goats so that they will not have loss of hearing, or worst, infection that is so irritating that the animal will quit grazing.

Also if an animal gets injured the shepherd will clean the injury and apply ointment or gauze to it as necessary. Then also the Shepherd will make sure that the flock has a good clean water source as well as making sure they have plenty of grass to graze on.

Think now about Jesus and His ministry. He went about healing people of their sickness, or even healing blindness or paralysis, not to mention that he raised some from the dead. That shows the care and love of the Good Shepherd for His flock. His desire was to see them healthy and whole and able to serve the Kingdom well.

I especially think of the story of the woman with the bleeding disorder. She is like a sheep that knows her shepherds voice and also knows that the shepherd can bring the healing that she needs. So, she follows Christ and just works her way towards him so that she can touch his robe and thus be healed. She has faith in her Good Shepherd.

While in Kansas I had four goats on our farm. They needed to have care at times and one thing that I noticed was that they learn to trust me when I needed to care for them. They would actually stand willingly and allow me to apply ointment, or brush them, or clean their feet or ears. They learned that it was for their good. But we also learned that they didn’t let Karen do it. They liked me but not her. They knew me as their shepherd and not her.

Finally, it is interesting that my goats would at times get their heads stuck in fencing. When this happened you had to work gently with them to get their heads out. Some times they were cooperative, some times they weren’t. When they cooperated they got let loose quickly, when they fought it they got hurt and tangled even worse and learned a painful lesson.

These things remind me that as the flock that follows the Good Shepherd we need to learn His voice, learn that He cares for us physically as well as emotionally and mentally. We need to learn to follow Him because He will lead us to clean water and good grazing. We also need to learn that He will be the one who comes to rescue us when we are stuck in a bramble bush or when we are hurt.

Finally, let us also keep in mind that the Pastor is considered an under shepherd of the Good Shepherd. Thus your pastor should be the one who brings you plenty of care, healing, physical and emotional care, etc. Does your pastor know you well enough to provide for your care? Do you know your pastor well enough to trust him and allow him to care for you?

If those questions aren’t answered in the positive you need to seek ways to remedy that. Get to know your pastor better and allow him to minister to you in a way that allows you to have good growth.

(The picture is from Tim Laniak and his CD of Shepherd photos that I purchased at a Peacemaker's conference several years back)